Riot Expands AMD Deal to 50 MW, Cuts Coinbase Loan Rate to 6.15% in AI Push

Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT) said its transition toward AI and hyperscale infrastructure accelerated in the first quarter, highlighted by an expanded partnership with chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices, new executive hires from major tech firms, and cheaper financing tied to its bitcoin-backed credit facility.

The company disclosed in its quarterly filing on Thursday that AMD exercised a 25-megawatt expansion option at Riot’s Rockdale, Texas campus, doubling the chipmaker’s contracted footprint there to 50 MW. Riot said the amended agreement also gives AMD a conditional first-priority right to lease up to another 100 MW of capacity, in increments of at least 50 MW.

Executives described the AMD relationship as a key validation of Riot’s broader strategy to reposition itself as a large-scale data center operator rather than a pure-play Bitcoin miner.

“We delivered the first 5 megawatts to AMD in January on schedule,” Riot CEO Jason Les said during the earnings call, adding that the remaining 20 MW from the original lease agreement remains on track for delivery in May 2026.

The expanded 50 MW lease is expected to generate roughly $636 million in total revenue over a 10-year term, with average annual net operating income of about $51 million, according to management.

The company also used the earnings call to boast what it sees as a growing competitive advantage in the AI infrastructure race: access to large amounts of energized power capacity. Riot said it now controls roughly 2 gigawatts of approved power capacity, including 1.7 GW already energized, primarily across its Rockdale and Corsicana campuses in Texas.

At Corsicana, Riot said it redesigned its standard data center building to support 168 MW of critical IT load, up from an earlier 112 MW design. Management said the revised configuration supports power densities exceeding 1,000 watts per square foot and can be configured for fully liquid-cooled deployments.

Executives argued the redesign allows Riot to deliver 50% more computing capacity without increasing overall capital expenditures, bringing the planned total capacity of the Corsicana campus to 756 MW.

Riot also signaled that it is building out leadership specifically geared toward hyperscale and AI customers. During the quarter, Riot hired Adam Black, formerly with Google and Meta, as head of design and construction, and Ria Williams, previously with Oracle and Digital Realty, as senior vice president of AI and hyperscale sales.

The executive additions came as Riot disclosed the departure of Jonathan Gibbs, its former chief data center officer, in April. The separation resulted in the forfeiture of approximately 1.2 million performance-based stock options, according to the filing.

Beyond the AI pivot, Riot’s quarterly filing also revealed the new terms on its $200 million bitcoin-backed credit facility with Coinbase. Under an amended agreement signed in April, the maturity was extended to April 2027 while the interest rate was reduced to a fixed 6.15%, down from 8.3% as of the end of 2025.

The restructuring also released 1,544 bitcoin previously pledged as collateral. Riot had previously tapped the Coinbase facility and pledged additional bitcoin collateral earlier this year amid pressure from weak mining economics and a sharp decline in hashprice — the industry metric measuring expected mining revenue per unit of computing power.

Despite industry-wide pressure from rising network difficulty, Riot said its direct mining cost excluding depreciation averaged $44,629 per bitcoin during the quarter, roughly flat year over year. The company attributed part of the improvement to a 169% increase in power credits earned through participation in Texas demand response and grid support programs. Those credits partially offset the impact of a 24% increase in the global Bitcoin network hash rate during the period.

Riot produced 1,473 bitcoin in the first quarter, down slightly from 1,530 a year earlier. Bitcoin mining revenue fell to $111.9 million from $142.9 million in the prior-year period, reflecting weaker Bitcoin prices and tougher network conditions.

Still, the company emphasized that its infrastructure expansion was funded without issuing new equity during the quarter, relying instead on operating cash flow and disciplined bitcoin sales.

Riot ended March with 15,679 bitcoin holdings worth approximately $1.1 billion based on quarter-end prices, along with $282.5 million in cash. As previously reported, Riot sold 3,778 BTC during the first quarter for total proceeds of $290 million.